The Brown Mansion received $225,000 in taxpayer dollars in 2008. Senator Lautenberg supported the funding with his vote on the 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Bill. The Brown Mansion is believed to be a site of paranormal activity and it has been popular attraction for ghost hunters looking for a good scare. (HR 2764, PL 110-161, Consolidated Appropriations Bill, Division F; Senate Vote #441, December 18, 2007, On Resolving Differences, Lautenberg voted yes)

In addition to its haunting appeal, Brown Mansion can also be rented out for special events such as weddings. (Brown Mansion website)

Zimmer issued the following statement:

"We can all appreciate a good ghost story especially around Halloween, but what is most frightening in that Senator Lautenberg is using our tax dollars to house ghosts. Particularly in these times of economic peril, government must live within it means and not waste precious resources on an old mansion for ghosts to haunt.

"This November, we have to opportunity to reshape the way business is done in Washington by electing a Senator who will eliminate wasteful spending and who will put the taxpayers first. I will be that Senator for New Jersey."

Zimmer's "Waste of the Week" campaign is designed to highlight Senator Frank Lautenberg's record of supporting wasteful spending and pork-barrel politics at the expense of New Jersey taxpayers. Previous Wastes of the Week were the $300 billion Farm Bill, the $389 million Bridge to Nowhere in Alaska, a $225,000 pamphlet on beaver damage, various Monuments to Me spending projects, the Teapot Museum in North Carolina, the Joplin, Missouri interchange, Amtrak's Sunset Limited, renovations for the Scottish Rite Theatre in Collingswood, New Jersey, the EarthPark indoor rainforest in Iowa, the Frank R. Lautenberg Train Station, the Camden-Philadelphia aerial tram, the wood uses research and the Hippie museum.

Lawrenceville, NJ - U.S. Senate candidate Dick Zimmer's "Waste of the Week" campaign this week highlights how Senator Frank Lautenberg chose to spend $1,000,000 on a hippie museum rather than support a prenatal and child healthcare program.

The Museum at Bethel Woods is commonly referred to as the Woodstock hippie museum since it examines the experience of the Woodstock festival and the legacy of the Sixties.

Senator Lautenberg voted against a specific amendment that would have shifted $1,000,000 in federal funds from the Woodstock hippie museum to the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant Program which provides prenatal and children's healthcare. (Senate vote 377, October 18, 2007, S. Amdt. 3321 to HR 3043, FL voted yes on motion to kill amendment)

During yesterday's U.S. Senate radio debate on New Jersey 101.5 FM, Senator Lautenberg said that he voted for the hippie museum because "it looked like something that was vital in terms of American history and the movement of our society." However, the museum was considered absurd even by Democrats who crossed party lines to kill it. (NJ 101.5 FM, October 29, 2008; USA Today, Senate Quashes Grant for Woodstock Museum, October 19, 2007)

Zimmer issued the following statement:

"Apparently, Senator Lautenberg feels that preserving go-go boots and tie-dyed t-shirts is more ‘vital' to society than the health of our nation's children.

"Wasteful spending must be stopped so our economy can get back on track. As Senator, I will eliminate wasteful spending and make the interests of the taxpayers my top priority."

Zimmer's "Waste of the Week" campaign is designed to highlight Senator Frank Lautenberg's record of supporting wasteful spending and pork-barrel politics at the expense of New Jersey taxpayers. Previous Wastes of the Week were the $300 billion Farm Bill, the $389 million Bridge to Nowhere in Alaska, a $225,000 pamphlet on beaver damage, various Monuments to Me spending projects, the Teapot Museum in North Carolina, the Joplin, Missouri interchange, Amtrak's Sunset Limited, renovations for the Scottish Rite Theatre in Collingswood, New Jersey, the EarthPark indoor rainforest in Iowa, the Frank R. Lautenberg Train Station, the Camden-Philadelphia aerial tram, the wood uses research and the Hippie museum.

Lawrenceville, NJ - Senator Frank Lautenberg demonstrated his weak grasp of the current financial crisis and his failure to avert it during 24 years in office in last night's radio debate on 101.5 FM.

U.S. Senate candidate Dick Zimmer asked Senator Lautenberg if he could name three things he did in his 24 years in office to avert the current financial crisis and why we should expect anything better from him in another six years.

Here is Senator Lautenberg's complete answer:

Well uh, I uh, voted uh to uh cap uh CEO uh pays which uh I note that you opposed. Uh and uh I have uh constantly focused on uh helping uh the middle class that uh, uh to be to able to sustain themselves. I uh uh voted uh uh to uh, improve uh uh our uh educational system by uh uh helping uh get a uh uh a GI Bill passed a uh very recently. Uh and uh I am uh uh I am proud of the votes that I have taken. I think that the middle class is uh better off from my efforts and I intend to want to continue to help them.

And uh I uh vote I uh created legislation that uh to uh avert further expansion of our deficit. I voted against uh some of the uh funding uh that uh we were uh uh giving uh to uh help the uh giant uh companies in in our country get uh uh incentive grants. Uh I've worked very hard on trying to uh stop the uh special interests from uh from enveloping our society uh your party Dick Zimmer and uh uh and uh the Bush Administration. I've worked very hard to control things. I was a businessman. I know something about controlling deficits and uh uh creating revenues and creating jobs and uh I uh think uh that I've earned uh my stripes uh by doing it the right way.

"Not only is Senator Lautenberg unable to identify a single thing he did to avert the current financial crisis in his 24 years as a Senator; he doesn't have a clue how we can avoid another financial crisis in the future," said Zimmer campaign manager Mark Duffy. "There can be no stronger argument for replacing Senator Lautenberg with Dick Zimmer in the U.S. Senate."

Voters have a Right to Expect More from Lautenberg

October 29, 2008

Lawrenceville, NJ - U.S. Senate candidate Dick Zimmer was endorsed today by the Press of Atlantic City for his strong record of fiscal responsibility, his intellect and his commitment to looking out for the taxpayers. The Press editors criticized Senator Lautenberg for limiting face-to-face contact with Zimmer and the voters, calling this approach to the campaign ‘unacceptable.'